1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to discoidal electric motors and generators. More specifically, the present invention relates to electric motors and generators having an inverted stator/rotor configuration wherein the lamination core or cores and the coils wrapped thereabout are fixed, with the wires extending from the coils extending axially from the frame, and the rotors carry either permanent magnets or an array of self-exciting DC field poles having alternating polarities. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to electric motors or generators having the above-mentioned stator/rotor configuration and having an integral heat sink, either air or liquid cooled, mounted proximate to the fixed coils and lamination cores.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional DC motors or generators where the armature coils are wound on the rotor and the permanent magnets or field poles are mounted on the stator require brush type commutators. These brush type motors are gradually being replaced with more advanced brushless DC motors, AC synchronous motors, or induction motors with variable frequency controls. There are however, disadvantages to the machines commonly in use. Wound field pole DC motors are relatively heavy and large per measured unit of power output and require constant maintenance of the commutator. The larger machines need more iron to dissipate the large amount of heat generated by the heavy current flow through the copper conductors and for the magnetic flux circulation within the machine. The efficiency of the larger machines is directly related to machine design and characteristics of power losses, iron core losses, copper losses, windage and stray losses, and heat (I.sup.2 R) losses. There are additional losses though the DO and AC inverters and frequency controllers, which, additionally, have high maintenance and operating costs.